Major clients of the construction industry have been found to organise construction work into fewer, but larger, contracts with more transfer of risk and responsibilities in response to a change from a sellers market to a buyers market, and facing a greater choice of procurement methods than ever before. Main contractors and consultants alike are moving towards multidisciplinary teams offering design and management services, challenging single service consultants or contractors and are in competition with each other over who is leading the process. A consolidation of firms at the upper end of the industry can be witnessed in order to access a wider market and new clients, and at the lower end a specialisation into specific skills or locations takes place, while medium sized firms are increasingly struggling to survive. A general procurement model serves to identify the appropriate procurement approach for construction needs, as neither clients or construction service suppliers represent a homogenous market. Clients demands for a ready purchase of design, procurement and management of construction from a single source have been found to be met most appropriately by contractor-led procurement under most, but not all, circumstances, particularly in respect of higher levels of efficiency, cost certainty and punctuality among other benefits. The consequences faced by a contractor in the leading role of the procurement process are significant, especially in terms of integrating and co-ordinating the entire supply chain to the satisfaction of the client and for anticipated repeat business. This is the chief factor of competitive strength for the struggle of long term survival. A classification model of procurement strategies in respect to parameters of supply risk, strategic importance and frequency of spend offers a tool for the appropriate choice of business relationship with different suppliers. It is to be anticipated that the future will see an intensification of the changes in the processes of construction procurement described and analysed, which may vary in extent from one market to another, but not in direction.

Major clients of the construction industry have been found to organise construction work into fewer, but larger, contracts with more transfer of risk and responsibilities in response to a change from a sellers market to a buyers market, and facing a greater choice of procurement methods than ever before. Main contractors and consultants alike are moving towards multidisciplinary teams offering design and management services, challenging single service consultants or contractors and are in competition with each other over who is leading the process. A consolidation of firms at the upper end of the industry can be witnessed in order to access a wider market and new clients, and at the lower end a specialisation into specific skills or locations takes place, while medium sized firms are increasingly struggling to survive. A general procurement model serves to identify the appropriate procurement approach for construction needs, as neither clients or construction service suppliers represent a homogenous market. Clients demands for a ready purchase of design, procurement and management of construction from a single source have been found to be met most appropriately by contractor-led procurement under most, but not all, circumstances, particularly in respect of higher levels of efficiency, cost certainty and punctuality among other benefits. The consequences faced by a contractor in the leading role of the procurement process are significant, especially in terms of integrating and co-ordinating the entire supply chain to the satisfaction of the client and for anticipated repeat business. This is the chief factor of competitive strength for the struggle of long term survival. A classification model of procurement strategies in respect to parameters of supply risk, strategic importance and frequency of spend offers a tool for the appropriate choice of business relationship with different suppliers. It is to be anticipated that the future will see an intensification of the changes in the processes of construction procurement described and analysed, which may vary in extent from one market to another, but not in direction.